'Nothing like this': National Guard rushes supplies to towns cut off by Helene

ASHEVILLE, N.C. − They flew over wastelands of crushed houses, demolished roads and downed power lines.

From the air, they could see once pristine mountain forests destroyed by mudslides and flooded rivers. Cars stranded in streams. Collapsed bridges. Devastated towns.

Members of the North Carolina National Guard on Wednesday continued rushing desperately needed supplies to areas ravaged and cut off in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

In many communities across western North Carolina, water and food are in short supply, let alone electricity and relative luxuries like internet, Wi-Fi and cellphone service − with no word on when they will return for thousands of residents.

According to a USA TODAY Network analysis, the number of confirmed deaths in the region crossed the 200 threshold when North Carolina officials said Thursday the state's tally has risen to 97. In addition, South Carolina has reported 39 fatalities, Georgia 33, Florida 19, Tennessee 11 and Virginia two for a total of 201.

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Heartbreak across 6 states:Here are some who lost lives in Hurricane Helene

President Joe Biden visited North Carolina on Wednesday and announced that he has dispatched 1,000 troops to reinforce the North Carolina National Guard with relief efforts. The Air National Guard said Wednesday that so far it had delivered over 100,000 pounds of food, water and other supplies for Helene victims.

For some in the guard, the missions this week are personal.

Chief Warrant Officer Marcus Wilkerson and his crew made a stop in a Black Hawk helicopter at his local church in the hard-hit area of Fairview, southeast of Asheville.

His pastor and fellow parishioners greeted him with hugs as he and his crew unloaded supplies.

Excited children waved and snapped photos of the Black Hawk.

For the past several days, the Trinity Fairview Church has been a hub where the community has gathered supplies and worked on plans to reach others that have been cut off by downed trees and demolished roads.

“We don’t have any cell service. We haven’t heard anything,” resident Gina Fowler said. “But everyone has been coming together.”

Dozens of adults and even their small children formed an assembly line to unload water, meal kits and other supplies.

They said they were grateful to get bottled water after drinking water from a well for several days. 

Wilkerson said he was glad to be able to personally deliver supplies to his church as a National Guard member, but he had to fight back tears.

“It’s hard to see them like this," he said. "But they’re making it."

The Black Hawk on Wednesday circled through the mountains of western North Carolina near the Tennessee border looking for small towns and people who needed help. It was here in these mountain communities where monstrous amounts of rain − in some cases as much as 30 inches − turned rivers and streams into deadly torrents.

“There’s our town ahead,” the pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Nathaniel Ernst, said as he circled the small mountain community of Buladean in Mitchell County, about 70 miles north of Asheville.

As they landed, they were greeted with smiles and relieved faces. 

Resident Richard Whitney said most of the town’s roads were wiped out, save for one road to Johnson City, Tennessee, which is in danger of failing. 

Whitney said the town received help from the military for the first time on Tuesday and is in desperate need of water and other supplies.

“I’ve lived on the coasts and been in hurricanes," he said. "But nothing like this."

Like the last desperate town, residents quickly formed in line to help unload supplies.

A little girl stopped to give a hug to Chief Public Affairs Officer Monica Ebert, who works as a mental health professional in her day job. Ebert gave out many hugs on this day. 

“Sometimes just a hug can do so much,” she said.

The guard members carried on to the community of Barnardsville with a population of about 600, just north of Asheville, in hard-hit Buncombe County.

Aaron Banks, who grew up here, moved to Tennessee with his wife but rushed back after the storm to check on his parents. They were safe, but all roads into the area were destroyed.

Banks said the community was saved when Quincey Brock, owner of Brock Mountain Land Company, who is from the town, used his company's equipment to bust holes through the debris and clear roads. 

“Everyone has been helping in their own way,” Banks said.

Some of the North Carolina National Guard members were concerned for their own family members. 

Spc. Cole Woodard, who was on the Black Hawk on Wednesday, said he received word that his parents in Burnsville, a small mountain community in Yancey County, were safe.

On Monday, he was able to fly overhead as they waved at him from the ground.

"It felt good to see them safe."